If the obesity is caused by a demonstrable medical condition, it is covered under the ADA. For example, someone who is obese because she is on corticosteroids to treat lupus would be covered. This is why it is exceedingly stupid to say such a thing, not to mention putting it out on the internet. This individual could easily find him/herself in really deep doodoo someday with no defense. This includes being named specifically in the lawsuit, and the company will most likely not provide any legal help since this is not part of the job, assuming that it is not an official company blog. If it is, oh, boy!

They could also put their employer in very deep legal trouble. Do you know for whom this blogger works? If you were to forward the post to the HR department this blogger might next be blogging on job hunting after being fired for disability discrimination. And if the blog is an official part of the company, forwarding it to the EEOC would be a good idea.

On another blog (which I will not name since they do not deserve to get traffic for this type of content), a writer talked about obese people in the workforce, and how they would not work with them/hire them. They went on to make some claim that overweight people were less effective than normal-weight people. From a legal standpoint, isn’t it illegal to say something like that? Can an employer not hire you even though you are qualified for the job simply for weighing more than they judge normal? Also, what is your opinion on that?

The trip will be four days of which I plan to put about 1,000 miles on the odometer. I have a 2001 Honda accord with 81,000 miles on it already and was thinking that I could save in the long term if I rent a car with unlimited miles.

What would be your advice on this issue?

I agree that just because you are young and single it doesn’t mean you don’t need life insurance. Besides the viatical benefit, you may well want to support someone later in life. If not a spouse and/or children, perhaps a disabled sibling or parent or grandchild. The advantage to whole life insurance is that your premiums are level and you can raise coverage as time goes by even if in the interval you have become uninsurable. And for heavens sake, get the disability rider that has the premiums paid if you become disabled. It doesn’t cost much and can save a lot, particularly if you do become disabled and unable to afford the premiums.

Back in the good old days, you could even reach a point after some 20 years where you don’t need to make any more payments.

Kate Petersen presents a very valid option. If you don’t want it on your host, you could install WordPress on a home computer. If you use the 15″ Dell regularly enough, it would only take a few minutes to get WordPress installed.

Backing up could then be as simple as setting up automated back-ups(either backing up your database or WordPress Export files).

And another option, requiring even less effort, would be to use TiddlyWiki [http://tiddlywiki.com/]. A single file, self-containted, taggabble, searchable, extendable wiki. Backing up is easy, since we’re talking about a single, normal file.

Again, this is how I look at the world. YMMV :D Snark on, my brother, snark on…

I know the difference between choosing an angle, only seeing one angle and being flat-out wrong. I’ve seen all three many times here and I’ve done all three in my own endeavors so I don’t know why anyone should be so embarrassed about it.

Do you need a house for the space? I was in a similar real estate situation and needed four bedrooms and a yard. The rent was staggering, $1400/month and the maintenance was lackadaisical at best. I’d say if you don’t need a house, you don’t need one. If you do need one then you just have to look at your situation, in my case a mortgage + taxes was $200 less than rent. Even with maintenance I’m way ahead. If I could rent a sizable house for less than my mortgage I definitely would have gone that route, but most folks are looking to cover their mortgage, maintenance, and often even a property manager, so they charge a bit more.

Are you planning on staying in one place? If not, then a mortgage is probably not for you, either.

I think the tax benefits are a joke. It’s a nice rationalization for folks, but it doesn’t come close to balancing the staggering amount of debt you take on. Wow I paid out thousands of dollars in interest and you’ll let me have my tax rate’s worth back? Here’s the deal: If you give me $100 (interest), and my buddy here $100 (taxes), then my buddy will give you $25 back while slipping me a few bucks. Good deal for you, right?

With today’s low rates and 20% down, a 30-yr mortgage means you’ll pay $256,000 in interest for a $280,000 loan on a $350,000 home.

A 15-yr mortgage for the same home means you’ll only pay $110,000 interest.

The interest expense numbers are a LOT lower than you’re thinking. Plus, when the home is paid off, you only need to worry about insurance and taxes whereas rent is forever… that’s when the real savings come in.

That’s pretty much exactly what I’m saying. As I said above, I intentionally do this. I write about the specific angles on issues that interest me. I know quite well that posters like Jimbo and Michael will be all too happy to jump in, point out my massive flaws, and tell people how worthless my advice is. I don’t mind in the least – it gets them involved and engaged in the conversation.

There are single people who have dependents. There are even single people who have kids. Maybe there aren’t people like that in Iowa, but in the rest of the world, there certainly are.
Johanna @ 8:08 am May 4th, 2009 (comment #1)

I have a new question for you.

How does one justify the cost of a house, insurance, property taxes, and maintenance these days? I understand that equity is built but it seems (without running though the numbers) that you’re really paying for a house 3 times over once all the interest is factored in. Add all the previously mentioned expenses and it seems like renting comes out ahead. I know you wrote on the subject but I’d love to see some realistic numbers run on the subject. (FYI I live in a fairly expensive location where houses are no less than $350k and taxes are typically $12k a year)
Thanks!

While QuickBooks simple start is def cheaper than the full out Pro version, normally, often times you can get the Pro version for $100 if not less (watch for coupons at various sites) and lately Staples has been throwing in a nice bundle of extra free software which you might or might not use (can always flip it on craigslist or ebay) so don’t rule out the higher end versions just because they seem cheaper at one time.

Really though, for a just starting small business you could probably get away with Excel or Open Office (if you can stand how sluggish it is) but IANAA